late winter in the Bronx & Upper Manhattan

Hamburg is one of the great fahrrad (a.k.a.- bike) cities of the world. One reason for this is because, like most of Holland, its neighbor to the west, Hamburg is very flat. Well, last week six 'Hamburgers' wanted to experience something different. They wanted to see why some Native Americans called the area 'MANNAHATTA,' (likely translation= island of rolling hills) and they certainly did!

After 400 years of development, you'll find most of the hills today in Upper Manhattan & the Bronx. Following a great Italian lunch on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, we had our toughest climb of the day up to the original 'Hall of Fame,' but the views and architecture up there made it well worth it. There seemed to be one more space for a new inductee into the Hall of Fame, and as you can see one German thought he should be next, right beside FDR.

After warming up in a beautiful library designed by Stanford White, we made our way down into the Harlem River Valley and back into Manhattan. Here, Ft. Tryon Park offers wonderful views of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx (you can actually see the 'Hall of Fame' where we just came from in the distance!).

Fortunately for the Germans, we didn't have to climb a hill to get great views this time. If you know where to go, you can actually find a tunnel that's cut into the rock (Manhattan Schist to be exact) on side of the cliff. At the end of the tunnel, you will find the A train AND you will also find an elevator that takes you right to the top of the park!

Towards the end of our ride, we stumbled upon an exciting game of high school softball at the base of the magnificent St. John the Divine. To me, baseball was a sign of the warm spring that is soon to come. To the Germans, this alien pastime needed more explaining. This can be a tough one! As a tour guide, I find myself explaining all sort of topics, and I've found that explaining baseball to Europeans is, by far, one of the biggest challenges. I'm not sure if these Germans came away from this tour knowing anything more about this uniquely American sport but they enjoyed the game nonetheless.

Easter in Harlem

A wise man on 125th Street once announced that every Sunday was Easter in Harlem. After spending almost every Sunday in Harlem for the past several years, those of us at Bike the Big Apple are certainly not inclined to argue with him.

Despite the chilly winds yesterday, 3 full tours worth of people wanted to see the real Easter in Harlem, and it did not disappoint. The celebratory energy (along with the outfits!) brought this 'neighborhood' (if you can call 400+ churches a neighborhood) to life on this frigid morning. And, the warm welcome we received in our favorite churches made the morning that much better.

Ending the day with a perfectly timed flat tire at the Central Park Skate Circle (a.k.a. the Roller Disco) also seemed to put a smile on everyone's face--- it almost seemed like that Bavarian cyclist got the flat on purpose! I was amazed at that turnout for the roller disco so early in the year. Didn't they know it was Easter in Harlem?

Rollin'

Besides the occasional hardy European group, this years tours really got rollin' the second week in March with a few great rides.

On March 14th I had wonderful custom ride to Red Hook complete with Aussie meat pies and Key lime pies. As you can see in the picture, my buddies from Rochester didn't trust my weather forcast (there was no rain!) AND didn't trust that I'd bring ponchos along just in case--- they made their own rain suites out of duck tape and trash bags from their hotel!

Earlier that week, I did a shorter version of Tour D for 7 Dutchmen. Upon meeting this great group of guys at that the bike shop, they said that they were 'old men' and needed the ride to be slow and relaxed. Little did I know, one of them was Wim Kieft, one of the great Dutch soccer players of all time. Old Men!? These were no old men! My only regret of that day was not bringing a soccer ball to knock around during our stop at pier 40. I did, however, get a chance to handily beat Wim up the Brooklyn Bridge.

Introduction

Hello. My name is Jesse McDonough and I am the general manager and a tour guide for Bike the Big Apple, New York's original bike tour company. The purpose of this blog is to afford myself, the other guides, and all of our great customers the opportunity to share the many wonderful experiences we have while riding in New York City. Every day in a New York is a new day and these wonderful experiences are too good not to share!